Fairy Tale Therapy

Fairy Tale Therapy is an engaging and reflective creative writing workshop that uses the power of fairy tales and metaphorical storytelling to help explore and express inner strengths and challenges. This workshop is designed to foster self-awareness, creativity, and personal growth through a series of guided activities.

“Fairy Tale Therapy” uses the methodology of creative writing and more specifically, the creative retelling of fairy tales, engaging participants in reflective writing exercises that draw on their personal experiences and strengths. Metaphorical cards are used to bridge the gap between the fictional challenges faced by fairy tale characters and the real-life obstacles participants have overcome. This approach not only enhances creative expression but also fosters a deeper understanding of personal growth and resilience.

The workshop was initially developed for Ukrainian female refugees living in Athens. Still, it is suitable for diverse groups of learners and age groups.

The objectives of the workshop are for the participants:

• to express themselves through retelling a famous fairy tale;
• to reflect on their qualities and disadvantages and feel empowered to present themselves to a group of people;
• to realise their strengths that have helped them to overcome difficulties;
• to enhance creativity;
• to get acquainted with creative writing techniques as a way to express themselves.

The materials needed for this workshop are a pencil or pen and erasers, a piece of paper or notebooks and writing pads available for all the participants. Also, the educator should have the metaphorical (therapeutic) cards and some printed copies of the prepared fairy tale with prompts. A flipchart will be useful for the facilitator to explain the steps of the activity.

The facilitator should select a location for the workshop that is a space considered safe by all participants. A place that provides a physically and emotionally safe environment for all participants, especially a place where people can freely express themselves without fear of prejudice or any negative judgment. The process of sharing personal information may be stressful for some of the participants, so the facilitator should be alert to understand any inconvenience, take the lead and handle the situation.

In addition, the facilitator should have a familiarity with using creative writing techniques in order to be able to explain the necessary steps, the techniques and the creative process. The facilitator should have contacted the psychologist beforehand in order to arrange all the required procedural aspects of the workshop. The different materials needed for the workshop must be gathered and available to be used by the participants during the workshop.

1. Participants share their quests and expectations: what they expect from the session and what they want to resolve or discover.
2. The facilitator reads the prepared fairy tale with prompts to the participants, where everyone has to write their own text, e.g. In the castle, there was a Princess (the main character). What did she look like?
3. Then, they are presented with the main question: “What did the main character lack, and what challenges did they have to face?”
4. The participants are presented with metaphorical cards (therapeutic cards), and they are asked to pick a card. The metaphorical cards are used by the participants to help them describe how the main character of the fairy tale overcame the challenges and to make the connection with their own lives.
5. Participants speculate how the main character’s life changed as she/he gained the strength necessary to overcome obstacles.
6. Participants share their texts and identify and reflect on the most important moments and relationships in their lives.

Alternatively, there is the option to have the workshop without the presence of a psychologist and without the metaphorical cards. In this case, the steps to be followed are:

1. Participants share their stories among the group.
2. Participants, with the help of the facilitator, bring to their minds the plot of a popular tale.
3. Participants choose the character of the tale which is the most relatable to them at the moment.
4. Participants are asked to retell a chapter of the fairy tale or add something new to it.

At the end of the workshop, participants engage in a reflective evaluation process. This process is designed to help them evaluate the workshop experience and its impact on them by fostering introspection and group discussion. Participants share their written texts with the group, highlighting key elements of their stories and the connections they made with their own lives. This allows for peer feedback and communal learning.

Then, the facilitator leads a discussion where participants reflect on the following questions:
“What did you discover about yourself through this exercise?”, “Which strengths did you identify in your writing that helped you overcome challenges?”, “How did using metaphorical cards influence your understanding of the fairy tale and your own experiences?”.

Finally, the group collectively discusses the overall workshop experience, providing feedback on what they found most valuable and suggesting improvements for future sessions.

The workshop can be adapted to suit coherent and diverse groups of learners. Participants may share personal information and this process may be stressful for some of them, so the facilitator should be alert to understand any inconvenience, take the lead and handle the situation.

Some tips and safety issues should be considered for the participation of the psychologist. The psychologist should introduce themselves and explain their role in providing support, actively listen to participants, offering support and validation and observe participants for signs of distress or discomfort, intervening gently when necessary, as well as assist in guiding reflective discussions, helping participants articulate their thoughts and feelings and offer insights into the psychological aspects of storytelling and its therapeutic benefits.

The group size for this workshop does not matter, but it is more challenging to manage the workshop with the participation of many individuals. Working with a big group of people makes it harder to make people feel safe to share about themselves. 8 to 10 participants would be the ideal group size.

The complexity of the workshop can be rated at 2. The facilitator needs to take some time to prepare the different phases of the workshop, review the methodology and prepare the workshop’s reflection phase.